Department of Creative Writing

MFA Publications

Neil Aitken

MFA 2007
http://www.neil-aitken.com/

Publications

  • The Lost Country of Sight, poetry collection, Anhinga Press, 2008
  • "enumeration," poem, Ninth Letter Journal, 2008
  • "comment" poem, ReDactions (Issue 8/9) 
  • "Letter Fifty," poem DMQ Review, Spring/Summer 2007
  • Five poems in Completely Mixed Up: An Asian North American Mixed Race Anthology, 2007

Awards/Honors

  • The Lost Country of Sight, poetry, Anhinga Press 2008, selected as the winner of the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry
  • Two Pushcart nominations for poetry, 2007

Amalia Alvarez

MFA 2008 

Publications

  • "Linseed Oils Loosen and Spin", Caesura, The City University of New York, Staten Island literary journal
  • "If I Was Gonna..." poem, Cipactli, the Raza Studies Journal 2008

Interviews/Performances

  • Moe Green Poetry Hour, Guest Poet, www.blogtalkradio.com/onword/ Los Angeles, CA, March 1, 2009
  • Heron Studios Gallery Opening, Featured Poet, Aston, PA, November 14, 2008
  • University of California Davis, Chicano Popular Culture Course, May 15, 2008
  • Hip Hop Califest, UCR, Riverside, CA, April 30, 2008
  • San Bernardino Sun, San Bernardino, CA, April 29, 2008
  • Colorado State University Latina Empowerment Speaker Series, April 17, 2008 
  • UCR Chancellor's Office Arts Day, UCR ARTS Building, Riverside, CA, November 2007
  • Cinco De Mayo Festival, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA, May 3, 2007

Awards/Honors

  • Second runner-up, poetry, "Is it Time Yet?", Hayden's Ferry Review Holiday Blog Contest; North Country Institute for Writers of Color, Tuition Fellowship, Brooklyn, NY July 11-13 2008 
  • University of California, Riverside, Gluck Fellowship Summer 2007 
  • University of California, Riverside, Tomas Rivera Fellowship 2006 
  • Browning Society Award for Dramatic Monologue, Honorable Mention for "Revolutionary Women Are More Beautiful," San Francisco, CA 2006

Vicki Barras Tulacro

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • "Roommates" & "Sever" Chaffey Review, Vol. II, May 2009 
  • "Inside Out", Chaffey Review, Vol. I, January 2009 
  • "Tingle" Semana de Mujer Journal, 2009 
  • "When There was Here" Pacific Review, Vol. 26, 2008 
  • "Inside Out" & "In One Act" Metamorphoses Anthology, Spring 2008 
  • "For Softer Skin" The Pacific Review Vol. 25, 2007
  • "Easter, 1990" Separation Anthology, Spring 2007

Bonnie Bolling

MFA 2010 
bonnieandclyd@hotmail.com

Publications 

  • Poetry in The Cortland Review, Rattle, Pearl, The Apple Valley Review, Poetic iversity

Awards/Honors

  • Donald Drury Award for both fiction and poetry
  • Finalist for The Rita Dove Poetry Prize

Sara Borjas

MFA

https://www.saraborjas.com/

Publications

Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff, 2019

Abbie Bosworth

MFA 2008

Productions

  • Glass Eye, short story in Crate, Spring 2006
  • Left Luggage, Production Finalist, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Cedar City, Utah, 2007

Awards/Honors

  • Gluck Fellowship for the Arts, Winter & Summer 2007

Sherry Brandon

MFA 2004
http://www.sherrybrandon.com

Publications

  • "The Cream-Colored Nightmare," Mosaic, 2002
  • "Sightless Light," Rhapsoidia, Issue 1, 2002
  • "Run Watcha Brung," Atomic Sandbox, comic book, 2005
  • "Roof Kitty," Atomic Sandbox, comic book, 2006
  • "SuperZeroes," (with Brian Compton), Atomic Sandbox, graphic novel, 2007

Productions

  • "Just What the Doctor Ordered." Playworks, UCR, 2001
  • "Go To Hell, Calvin Klein." Playworks, UCR, 2002
  • "I Am Jimmy." Playworks, 2004
  • "Lunchy Libre: A Sandwich Worth Fighting For," short film, 2006
  • "My 20s Took A Holiday and I Wasn't Invited," short documentary, 2007
  • "I Have a Korean Mother!" short film, 2007
  • "12.24.50" documentary, 2009

Interviews

  • "Acting on Issues: As playwrights, UCR students find their voices and express their concerns on stage." The Press-Enterprise, 08/18/2002

Awards/Honors

  • Maxell H. Gluck Fellowship in the Arts, 2003
  • Harry Lawton Award in Screenwriting, 2005

Angela Thompson-Brenchley

(publishing as A.N. Teibe)
MFA 2010 

Publications

  • "Hover & Grasp", Ekphrasis, forthcoming "Sightless Light," Rhapsoidia, Issue 1, 2002 
  • "In Memoriam of Myself", The Pacific Review
  • The Click of Degree", "Past the Edges", "wither, blossom, scatter", Metamorphoses
  • "Birds", "Focused", Separation
  • "Grandfather's Garden in Oil", "Alone", "Two Kinds of Waves", Muse
  • "After the Freeze", The Pacific Review
  • "Group Therapy", second place Utah State University Scholars Day Awards 

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • Grant Recipient to attend Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 2006 & 2007

Ching-In Chen

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • The Heart's Traffic, novel in poems, Red Hen Press 2009 
  • Two poems in Yellow As Tumeric, Fragrant as Cloves anthology, Deep Bowl Press, 2009 
  • "The Sky's Full Contents," poem, Monday Night, 2009 
  • "The Origins of the Chinky Font", Hyphen Magazine (#16, Consumption) 
  • Two poems, Fifth Wednesday Journal, 2009 & 2008 
  • "With," poem, Iron Horse Literary review, 2008 
  • "Thousand Year Egg", Water~Stone Review, 2008
  • Four poems in Poemeleon, "Persona Poem"Issue, 2008
  • Three poems in OCHO 16 (print companion to MiPOesias) 2008
  • "Disjuncted Desert: some haibun," poem, Phantom Seed, 2008
  • "After Virginia Tech," poem, Capital Bookfest's Family Pictures
  • "It's a Bird, It's a Plane ... It's a Hindu Goddess?" non-fiction, Hyphen Magazine 2007
  • Four non-fiction pieces, Hyphen Magazine
  • "fob," poem, Trans issue of Tea Party 2007
  • "tale," poem, CRATE, 2007 
  • "Starfish 2," poem, Growing Up Girl: Voices from Marginalized Spaces, 2006

Online Publications

  • Two poems in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 2009
  • "Disciple," poem, Sunday Salon, 2009
  • Four poems in Poemeleon, "Persona Poem" Issue, 2008
  • "From New Orleans." Guest Blog for E. Ethelbert Miller's The E-Mag: A Sunday Kind of Love, 2006

Productions

  • Roundtable discussion and performance/reading, "Disrupting the Page: Hybridity & Asian American Poetics," Association of Asian American Studies Conference, 2009
  • The Geisha Interviews, regional finals, KCACTF Cauble's Corner/New Play Development 2009
  • We Will Not Be Moved: A Story of Oakland Chinatown, a film. 2004 

Awards/Honors

  • One Pushcart nomination for poetry, 2009
  • Scholarship Competition Winner, Writer Conferences and Center, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, 2007
  • Honorable Mention for "Two River Girls," Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, 2007
  • Fellowship, Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Foundation, Fine Arts Work Center, 2007
  • Zora Neale Hurston Award Recipient, Naropa Summer Writing Program, 2006
  • 2nd place, "War," People Before Profit Poetry Prize, 2006

Mary Copeland

MFA 2007

Publications

  • Clocks We Watch, Plainview Press, 2008
  • Ovation Road, Plain View Press 2008
  • Poetry published in the following journals: Muse, Pudding, Arrowsmith, Pearl, The Pacific Review, Epicenter, The Sulphur River Review, Wednesday, Spillway and Left Behind.

Awards/Honors

  • Teaching Assistant of the Year, UC Riverside, 2006/2007 
  • Ina Coolbrith Poetry Prize, 2007 
  • Ocean Award, Second Place Poetry, 2005 
  • Cordell-Briggs Writing Award, (Poetry) Volume IX, Issue 1, 1995 
  • Society of American Pen Women, Honorable Mention, 1998

Kevin Cramer

MFA 2008

Productions

  • Bacciarelli (AKA The Bacciarelli Issue), stage play, Ruskin Group Theatre 2007, and UCR mainstage 2008
  • Searching for Mari, stage play, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, 2002
  • As far as Spokane, stage play, Bloomington, Indiana, 2004
  • Beartooth, stage play, Pittsburgh New Works Festival 2004; also produced at Outlaws Underground Theatre, State College, PA, 2005
  • Boom, stage play, Outlaws Underground Theatre, State College, PA, 2003, and as part of the Patriot Acts Festival at the Alliance Repertory Co., Burbank, CA, 2004

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • Samuel Goldwyn Award 2007
  • Searching for Mari nominated for best playwright and best production at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, 2002
  • As far as Spokane, finalist, Reva Shiner full-length play contest, Bloomington, Indiana, 2004
  • Beartooth, stage play, nominated for best production, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, 2004

Rachelle Cruz

Publications

  • Experiencing Comics: An Introduction to Reading, Discussing, and Creating Comics, 2018
  • God's Will for Monsters, 2017 
  • Kuwento: Lost Things—An Anthology of New Philippine Myths, 2014

Alba Cruz-Hacker

MFA 2007

Publications

  • "How to Seal a Mouth," poem, Kaleidowhril Literary Journal, Winter 2008
  • No Honey for Wild Beasts, poetry collection, Plain View Press, 2008
  • Five poems selected for the "Senior Editor's Choice" of Poetry Magazine, Winter 2007

Awards/Honors

  • UC Riverside Poet Laureate Award, 2007 
  • Thomas Rivera Selection for Poetry, 2007 
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee

Kate Durbin

MFA 2008

Publications

  • The Ravenous Audience, poetry collection, Black Goat Press/Akashic Books, 2009
  • Amelia Earhart: Fragments Found in a 1937 Aviator's Boot (Poetry Chapbook; Dancing Girl Press, 2009) 
  • "Brief Crossing" (poem) in elimae 
  • "Unlearning to Read," "S&D", and "Captives" (poems) in diode 
  • "36 fillette" and "Sex is Comedy" (poems) in Drunken Boat 
  • "A Real Young Girl" (poem) in The Ledge 
  • "Swell" (poem) in Boxcar Poetry Review 
  • "Desgracia" and "Desert Fall" (poems) in Moondance 
  • Review of Karen Harryman's Auto Mechanic's Daughter in Boxcar Poetry Review 

Interviews

  • Interview with Gabriela Jauregui in Asian American Poetry and Writing 
  • Interview with Chris Abani in The Elegant Variation

Cristian Flores

MFA 2007

Publications

Awards/Honors

  • First runner-up for poetry in the Hayden's Ferry Review Holiday Blog Contest, for the coming-of-age poem, "Red Season" 
  • Clara Peretzman Scholarship for Immigrant Women, 2006

Cupid Flowers

MFA 2009 

Awards/Honors

  • First Place, "The Hands of Time," (the first ten pages), Hang 10 Screenwriting Contest

Holly Miller Gaglio

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • "Westbound," short story, Fresh Ink, December 2008

Awards/Honors

  • First prize, Fiction, Inland Empire California Writers Club 2008 Writing Contest

Cuca Esteves

MFA 2006

Productions

  • The Rise and Fall of Irvine Meadows West, documentary screened in Los Angeles at the Downtown and Indie Fest

Adam Gallari

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • "Reading Rilke," short story, Ampersand Review, Spring 2009 
  • "Chasing Adnois," short story, anderbo.com, Fall 2008
  • "No Cause for Concern," short story, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Spring 2008

Awards/Honors

  • Nominated for a storysouth Million writers award

Molly Gross

MFA 2008
www.inlandtheatreworks.com

Productions

  • Shakespeare and the City (commissioned), stage play, The Fictitious Theatre Company, San Bernardino, CA, Summer 2007, mainstage production

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • Graduate Division Fellowship, UC Riverside, 2006-07 
  • Inland Theatre League Award for performance, 2007 
  • Maxell H. Gluck Fellowship in the Arts, 2008 
  • FTC Inland Theatre Works 2008 "3D Theatre Festival" 2nd Place Prize for Best Original 10-Minute Play

Kaitlin (Kaite) Hillenbrand

MFA 2008

Publications

  • "Driving Away", Kestrel, expected 2009
  • "Siddhartha's Pinwheel", Kestrel, expected 2009 

Reviews

  • Review of David Tucker in Review Revue

Vanessa Hua

MFA 2009 
www.vanessahua.com

Publications

  • "The Art of Chinese Cooking," article, Newsweek, June 30, 2008
  • "For What They Shared," short story, River Styx, Fall 2008
  • "What We Have is What We Need," short story, American Literary Review, 2008
  • "The Responsibility of Deceit," short story, Cream City Review, fiction contest winner, 2006

Online publications

  • "Staking Claim," Fiction Attic; "Like Reyes," VerbSap; "Gone Wild" and "How to Lose Your Two Best Friends," Salt River Review; "Absence," Blood Orange Review

Awards/Honors

  • First prize, Atlantic Monthly fiction contest, 2008
  • Fiction contest winner 2006, Cream City Review, "The Responsibility of Deceit"
  • Honorable Mention, Stanford magazine fiction contest 2005, "Cruise Control"
  • 2006 James Madison Freedom of Information Award, Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter
  • 2007 and 2008, Asian American Journalists Association, National Journalism Awards

Interviews

Paul Jacques

MFA 2009 

Productions

  • Mercury, Mars, and Mayhem, play, finalist in the Isis New Play Competition, 2008
  • Commissioned to write an adaptation of Frankenstein for Murrieta Repertory Theatre, 2008

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • Two Inland Theatre League Award for performance, 2008

Gabriela Jauregui

MFA 2007
http://www.gabrielajauregui.net

Publications

  • Controlled Decay, poetry collection, Black Goat/Akashic Books, 2008
  • "Blood Sausage" (poem) published in Hayden's Ferry Review, special themed issue on The Grotesque, June 2008
  • "Apuntes on Orientalism in/and Latin American Literature: Darao, Tablada, Borges, Paz and Sarduy" (article) published in The Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, March-June issue, 2008
  • "Pull the Trigger!" article published in The Aesthetics of Risk: SoCCAS Symposium Vol. III (Welchman, John C. ed., JRP Ringier, 2008)
  • "Daniel Alarcon and Alex Espinoza" (interview) published in BOMB magazine (2008): http://bombsite.com/issues/0/articles/3072
  • Ball Game (novel excerpt) published in Guernica Magazine (guest edited by Francisco Goldman, October 2007): http://www.guernicamag.com/fiction/455/ball_game_a_novel_excerpt_1/
  • "Thoughts on Failure, Idealism, and Art: A Symposium" (interview) in Failure! Experimental Aesthetic and Social Practices. (Antebbi, Nicole, Dickey, Colin and Herbst, Robbie, eds., Journal of Aesthetics and Protest Press, 2006)
  • "Necropolis: Exhuming the Works of Teresa Margolles" (article) published in: Muerte Sin Fin: Teresa Margolles Exhibition Catalogue (Distributed Art Publishers and Museum for Moderne Kunst and Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2004) 
  • "Eat it Alive and Swallow it Whole!: Re-savoring Cannibal Holocaust as a Mockumentary." (article) published in InVisible Culture (Issue no.7, University of Rochester, Winter 2004) 

Reviews and interviews

Awards.Honors

  • Soros New American Fellowship for 2007-08

Eva Konstantopoulos

MFA 2009 
http://www.evakonstantopoulos.blogspot.com

Publications

  • "We Are Daughters Of The Sun," Slab: Sound And Literary Art Book, Issue 2, Spring 2007
  • "Other is the Sky," lotus.zine, Volume 4, Spring 2007

Online Publications:

  • "You May Get Lost," Why Vandalism? Feb/March 2008 Double Issue
  • "Stranger Stranger," Storyglossia, Issue 25, December 2007
  • "A Borrowed Life," Word Riot, May 2007 Issue
  • "We Create Earth As We Sleep," Rumble, March 2007
  • "Joy," Rumble, March 2007
  • "Living in Hotels," Conte, Issue 1, May 2005

Awards/Honors

  • Circleframe Screenwriting Award for Best Screenplay, "The Virgin of Poughkeepsie," 2008 Gotham Screen International Film Festival

Rebecca O'Connor

MFA 2006
http://www.rebeccakoconnor.com

Publications

  • A Parrot for Life, Non-fiction book, TFH Publications, 2007
  • Lift, memoir, Red Hen Press (forthcoming; excerpts in Colorado Desert (The Coachella Valley) Anthology edited by Ruth Nolan,) Heyday Books, 2007
  • "Postcard from Above," article, West Magazine, December 2006
  • "Mercy," South Dakota Review, Summer 2006
  • How Should the World Respond to Natural Disasters? Non-fiction, At Issue Series, Greenhaven Press, 2006
  • Is There Life After Death? Non-fiction, At Issue Series, Greenhaven Press, 2005 
  • "Pantry Check," Los Angeles Times Magazine, November 2005
  • Uniquely Nevada, Non-fiction, Heinemann, 2004 
  • Acid Rain (Overview Series), Lucent Books, 2003 
  • Falcon's Return, Avalon Career Romance, June 2002

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • Pushcart Prize Nominee 2007
  • The Albert and Elaine Borchard Fellowship to the Tomales Bay Writers' Workshops
  • The Carlisle Family Scholarship to the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley Workshops
  • Fellowship to the San Juan Writers' Workshops
  • McQuern Fellowship in Nonfiction at the University of California, Riverside

Briandaniel Oglesby

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • "Cabeza de Pedo" short story published in Gertrude, 2009 (Forthcoming)
  • "Family Kleenex (tm)," short story, ZZYZYVA Spring 2008

Productions

  • "Trainwhistles" selected to a have a reading in the SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL at the 2009 KCACTF National Festival, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, April 13-18
  • Ninety-Nine Cents Plus, regional finals, KCACTF Cauble's Corner/New Play Development, 2009
  • Game, KCACTF regional finals, ten-minute play entry, 2008
  • Paris Park, Playwrights at the Loft in Redlands reading, 2008 
  • Starry Night, FTC Inland Theatre Works ten-minute play performance, 2008 
  • My Avisia Winger, Barnyard Theatre mainstage production, 2004 

Awards/Honors

  • Pushcart Prize Nomination

Victoria Patterson

MFA 2006
www.victoriapatterson.net

Publications

  • "The First and Second Time" short story in Freight Stories no. 5, March/April 2009 
  • "Winter Formal" short story in The Southern Review, Volume 45:1, Winter 2009
  • Drift, collection of short stories, Houghton Mifflin/Mariner Trade Back Original, 2009
  • "Johnny Hitman" short story in Santa Monica Review, Spring 2008
  • "The Rise and Fall of Fuzzy Fizziwig" short story in The Florida Review, Spring 2008
  • "Joe/Christina," short story, Snake Nation Review, 2007
  • "Sweet Rolls and Vodka," short story, The Sun, July 2006
  • "Parking Far Away," short story, Crate Magazine, 2006
  • "Thighs," short story, Quality Women's Fiction, 2005
  • "Baby Talk", "The Soccer Banner", "Morphine and Mother's Milk," short stories, Literary Mama 2001, 2002, 2003
  • "Morphine and Mother's Milk," HipMama, 1999

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • The Abraham Polonsky Award in Fiction 2006
  • Thesis Fellowship for Spring/Summer 2006
  • Squaw Valley Scholarship, University of California, Riverside, 2006
  • Snake Nation Press Nonfiction Award, 2005
  • Gluck Fellowship, 2004, 2005
  • Dean's Fellowship Award, 2004, 2005

Natalie Rohwer

MFA 2009 

Publications

  • "Spilling the Beans," short story, Kalliope, 2007

Richard Sanchez

MFA 2008
http://www.richardasanchez.com/

Publications

  • "The Girl Next Door," short story, Tin House, Summer 2006
  • "Basketball Gods," short story, The Pacific Review, Spring 2005

Kandie St.Germaine-Kelly

MFA 2006

Publications

  • Closet Drama, poetry collection, Bear Star Press 2001
  • Poems published in over thirty literary magazines, including Arshile, The Sonora Review, Puerto del Sol, and Artful Dodge

Productions

  • Stage plays for youth, Dinner in Oz, A Midsummer Night's Teen, After Ever Happily, and Paper Umbrellas published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals 

Awards/Honors

  • California State University Creative Writing Program Award for Poetry

Valerie Stulman

MFA 2007

Productions

  • Costo, 10 minute play about Native American activists Rupert and Jeannette H. Costo, as part of Grier Living Histories, funded through the City of Riverside, CA, production expected Sept. 2008
  • One Final Moment, staged reading, one act play, new play development, The Performance Loft, Redlands, CA, May 14, 2008
  • Santa Angel, 10 minute play reading, new play development, Skylight Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, April 27, 2008
  • The Booth, staged reading, one-act play, new work development, Theatre 150, Ojai, CA, November 2007
  • Invited Production, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Region VIII  festival, Cedar City, Utah, February 2007
  • Incomplete Family, one-act play, Playworks, University of California, Riverside, June 2007
  • I Do, I Don't and Lunchtime Angel, original ten minute plays produced in Retracing the Declaration of Sentiments, Riverside Metropolitan Museum, February 2006

Online Publications

Interviews

  • Press Enterprise, Riverside, CA - Summer 2006, interviewed as part of article for Maxwell H. Gluck Inaugural Summer Camp for the Arts.

Awards/Honors

  • Semi-Finalist, (with John Shannon, MFA 2006) Disney/ABC TV Writers Fellowship competition, 2009
  • Animal Passion, Screenwriting Award, Riverside International Film Festival, 2008
  • The Booth, Best of Festival Award, one-act play, invited production, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Region VIII festival, Meritorious Recognition, Cedar City, Utah, February 2007
  • Hush Little Baby, Honorable Mention, 75th annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition, 2006, Television/Movie Script category
  • Triggers, Honorable Mention, 75th annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition, 2006, Playwriting category
  • Family Place, Semi-finalist, 2001, Chesterfield Screenwriting competition
  • Multiple Maxwell H. Gluck Graduate Fellowships, in Theatre, Department of Creative Writing/Writing for the Performing Arts, University of California, Riverside. Summer 2007, Fall 2006, Summer 2006, Spring 2006
  • Multiple Maxwell H. Gluck Graduate Teaching Fellowships, Theatre, University of California, Riverside. 2006-2008

Jessi Sundell

MFA 2008

Productions

  • A Little Angel Now, stage play, Barnyard Theatre, Davis CA, Summer 2008 mainstage production

Ky-Phong Tran

MFA 2007
www.frequentwind.com (writing)
www.aapw-la.org (magazine/arts organization)

Interviews

Awards/Honors

  • "I Will Love You More Than I Can" and "A Thing Called Exodus" Finalists for 2008 Short Story Contest from Hyphen Magazine/Asian American Writers' Workshop
  • Breadloaf Writer's Conference acceptances in 2007 and 2008 (Tution scholar finalist
  • Maxwell H. Gluck Fellowship in the Arts, UC Riverside, 2006
  • Rose/DeFillis Fiction Scholarship, Napa Valley Writers Conference, 2006
  • Fiction Scholarship, Wesleyan Writers Conference, 2006
  • Robert C. Byrd Scholarship, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, 2006
  • New America Media Award for Art, Sports, and Entertainment category, 2006
  • New America Media Award for Opinion-Editorial category, 2005
  • Fiction Scholarship, Voices of Our Nation Writers Conference, 2005
  • Graduate Division Fellowship, UC Riverside, 2005-06

Brenda Varda

MFA 2009 

Productions

  • Liquid, full-length, Unknown Theatre, Summer 2009 
  • What Pola Wants, one-act in L.A. Views, Company of Angels, 2009 
  • Things That Fall from the Sky, New Play Development Workshop, at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region VIII, 2009 
  • Cyberlilly Seven, media performance piece, UCIRA conference and Bootleg Theatre, 2008 
  • Fables du Theatre, full-length play,Unknown Theatre, 2008 
  • Jackalling, one-act in L.A. Views, Company of Angels, 2008
  • Insert Objections Here, play, Mid America Theatre Conference Fringe Festival, 2008
  • Things That Fall From the Sky, KCACTF National Playwriting Program ten-minute play regional finalist, 2009
  • American College Theatre Festival: play presentation -Two Chairs With Adam and Sophie,- 2008
  • Impossible Movies, EdgeFest Los Angeles - Writer/Performer, 2007 
  • Big Baby, Unknown Theater - One-Act Festival, 2006 
  • The Spanish Cafe, L.A. History Project - Writer/Co-director 
  • Multi-media theatre piece - produced by 24th Street Theatre

Papers

  • Comparative Dramatics Conference 2009
    • Fables du Theatre: Liminal Space, Narrative Disruption, Audience Reaction"
  • Mid America Theatre Conference 2009 (The Poor Theater)
    • "99-seats on 99-cents: the current state of small theatre in L.A." 
  • Comparative Dramatics Conference, Loyola Marymount, 2008
    • Collision or Collusion with the Audience in Collage Dance Theatre's C'Opera
  • (Dis) junctions, University of California, 2008
    • panel and series of creative presentations entitled: "Creative Writing Across Campus Divides: Writers in Collaboration with Academic Researchers"
  • Mid America Theatre Conference 2008 (Extreme Theatre symposium)
    • "Process and Participation: Models from the Social Sciences for Collaborative and Devised Theatre (pedagogy)"
    • "Extreme Collaboration in Devised Work for Small Theatre: Creating Viable Processes with Limited Resources (directing),
    • "Postdramatic Theatre in the L.A. Police Academy: Collage Dance Theatre's C'Opera", (MATC academic journal review)

Awards/Honors

  • KCACTF John Cauble National Playwriting Finalist, 2009 
  • Gluck Fellowship in the Arts, 2009
  • Mellon Workshop grant - Convergence of Cultures: Scientific Realms and Creative Production, 2008
  • UCR Humanities Fellowship, 2008 
  • Gluck Fellowship in the Arts, 2008 
  • Edge Fest Los Angeles, New Works Festival, 2007 Impossible Movies
  • Los Angeles Conservancy, Performance Grant, Wilshire Words, 2005 
  • Los Angeles History Project, Performance Grant, 2005, The Spanish Cafe

Alexis Vergalla 

MFA 2008
www.alexisv.wordpress.com

Publications

  • "Letters Through Glass", Finishing Line Press, 2009
  • "Issues of Translation," "Letter to Vallejo," "On Hearing an Uncertainty," poetry, Plankton Magazine, Vol 1, Summer 2007
  • "The Way Things Disappear," poem, Damselfly Press, Winter 2008
  • "Rusalka," poem, forthcoming, Tales of the Unanticipated
  • "The Wolf and the Girl," poem, forthcoming, Goblin Fruit
  • "The Translucent Nature of Irises," poetry sequence, Diode Poetry Online, Winter 2007
  • "At the Zoo," poem, Eclectica Magazine, Vol 5 N 4, Oct/Nov 2001

Interviews

Mariah Young

MFA 2008

  • Squaw Valley Writing Workshop, 2008